Clean Energy on the Sea

Against the foil of blue sky and boundless sea, a slice of pinwheel-like whiteness shines with metal luster under the blazing sun. Having withstood the recent typhoon Hato, the colossus—a 5-megawatt (MW) wind turbine independently developed by a Chinese company—now expects more of its breed coming from both home and abroad to settle down in Xinghua Bay, Fuqing, in southeast China’s coastal Fujian Province.

Run by China Three Gorges Corp. (CTG), the Fuqing-based offshore wind farm will accommodate 14 high-power wind turbines, each boasting a generation capacity of at least 5 MW, manufactured by eight foreign players including General Electric and rising domestic players like Goldwind.

“After all the wind turbines are installed by the end of the year, a special challenge competition will be kickstarted among them. By tracking and assessing their technological reliability, quality, output and cost, CTG will join hands with the most excellent two or three producers to tap the abundant wind power resources in Fujian,” said Sun Qiang, executive director of CTG’s Fujian energy investment branch.